Dream
History 10 Billion Years Ago Dream came into existence once sentient lifeforms capable of dreaming appeared in the universe. Dream was one of the Endless, personifications of ideas and concepts that were tied to life, and were fated to fulfill their functions until the universe ended and all life disappeared from the cosmos. The Endless are the children of Time, and Night is the mother of at least Dream. The parents, who predate all other existence, have grown estranged and care little for the mortal world Dream concerns himself with. Dream took Abel, the first murder victim, away from his sister Death and offered him a place in the Dreaming. He made Abel a storyteller and gave him the House of Secrets to live in. When Abel got lonely, Dream commissioned his brother Cain to join him next door as a storyteller in the House of Mystery. 80,000 Years Ago After Despair was murdered Dream and the Endless went to the necropolis to put her body to rest. The necropolitans had long lost their passion for their job, and didn't know about the necropolis arrangement with the Endless, so they laughed at them when they asked for Despair's cerements and the book of rituals. The Endless revoked the necropolis charter, causing it to be destroyed. The village of Litharge was granted a charter by the Endless and became the new necropolis. 10,000 Years Ago Dream, as Kai'ckul, appeared to Nada, the queen of a wondrous African city. She fell in love with him, and went to the Dreaming to see him again. They both knew there would be terrible consequences if a mortal fell in love with one of the Endless, but they gave in to their desires. The next morning Nada's kingdom was destroyed, and she killed herself because she felt she was responsible. Kai'ckul appeared to her soul and told her he would make her queen of the Dreaming. She refused, and out of pride Kai'ckul condemned Nada to Hell. 6 A.D As a favor to the Roman god Terminus, Dream came to emperor Augustus in a dream. Augustus saw two futures for Rome, one in which the whole world would be under Rome's banner and last thousands of years, and another in which the Roman empire would die after a few hundred years. He wanted the latter, but was afraid of the Roman gods learning of his plans. Dream advised him to give up being emperor for one day and disguise himself as a beggar in the streets. Augustus took his advice, and while the gods weren't watching over him he formulated his plan to stop Roman expansion. Late 700s Baghdad, Haroun al Raschid summoned Dream to the waking world by threatening to unleash the djinns of the Globe of Suleiman. Dream disliked being called in such a manner and took away the Globe. Raschid told Dream that Baghdad had become a city of magic and wonders, but he sensed that it would not last, so he asked Dream to take Baghdad into the Dreaming. Dream agreed, and put the dream of Baghdad city of wonders in a bottle. In the waking world Baghdad transformed from a magic city into a prosperous yet ordinary one, with Raschid and all of the residents unaware of what it once had been, except in legend. 1389 Death convinced Dream to visit a tavern to see humanity on their own terms. In the tavern they overheard Hob Gadling say that death was a fool's game and that he had no intention of dying. Dream and Death agreed to make him immortal, and Dream told Hob he'd meet him in the same tavern one hundred years hence. 1489 Dream met with Hob Gadling, who asked if he'd made a deal with the devil to live so long. Dream told him he had not, and that he was simply interested in Hob. Death would not touch Hob unless he desired it. They agreed to meet again in another hundred years. 1589 As part of William Shakespeare's contract with Dream he wrote the first of two plays specifically for the Dream King, A Midsummer's Night Dream. Dream and the emissaries of Faerie were the audience for Will's first performance of the play. Dream told the court of Faerie that this was his payment for all the diversion they'd offered him in the past. Although their time on Earth was over humanity would remember them through Will's play. Dream noted Lucien sneaking Vassily of the People through the Dreaming. Lucien admitted that he had lost one of his books from the library of dreams, and Vassily was the current owner. Vassily promised Lucien his book back if he was taken to the bedroom of a duke's daughter, the object of his desire. Dream took over, showing Vassily to the young lady's room. Once Vassily saw her, it was enough for him, some wishes are best left unfulfilled. Dream invited Vassily to join him and Lucien for dinner in the Dreaming. 1689 Dream met with Hob Gadling at their tavern, and Hob had fallen into poverty and despair. Dream asked if he wished for death, but Hob replied that he still had so much to live for. 1690s Dream and the Corinthian met Destruction. Destruction showed him the Invisible College and hinted that he was planning on splitting away from the rest of the Endless. 1695 Destruction called a family meeting of the Endless, and announced to Dream and the rest of his family that he was abandoning his duties as one of the Endless and taking his leave of them for good. 1789 Dream met with Hob Gadling at their tavern, where Lady Constantine and her thugs ambushed them. Rumors of their centennial meetings had spread, and she believed they were the Devil and the Wandering Jew. She intended to kidnap them and learn what she could from them, but Dream put her thugs to sleep and put Constantine in a dreamlike state where she was haunted by those whose lives she'd sacrificed to advance her own agendas. 1794 Dream came to Lady Constantine and offered her a reward in exchange for help in an affair he couldn't directly involve himself in since it involved his estranged son. He sent Constantine to retrieve Orpheus' head, which had been stolen from a temple in Naxos and fallen into possession of the French government. Dream needed to send her advice in dreams when Maximilian Robespierre captured her, but she eventually succeeded. 1859 Despair presented Joshua Norton to Dream. Despair had driven him towards ruin and suicide, and speaking for herself, Delirium and Despair, challenged Dream to save him through dreams. Dream found that Norton craved success and respect, so he gave him the dream of being Emperor of the United States. Norton followed his dream, running a bulletin in the newspaper proclaiming himself Norton I. Death met with Dream and told him she had her doubts about what he was doing. 1864 Dream checked on the progress of Norton I. Delirium met Dream, and told him she thought Norton should belong to her, but despite believing himself Emperor of the United States he was totally sane. Dream pointed out that it was madness that kept him sane. 1875 Dream met with Desire to look in on Emperor Norton I. Desire, through his/her agent the King of Pain, offered Norton the world, but he refused. Dream proved his hold on Norton could not be assailed by Desire. Dream told Desire s/he wasn't very subtle in her tactics, and s/he was outraged, and promised to get even with Dream for the insult. 1880 Norton I died, and Dream won his challenge against Despair. He never entered her realm once between the time Dream gave him his dream of being emperor and the time he died. 1985-2014 On October 12th, 1985, Dream was accidentally summoned by the Order of the Ancient Mysteries at the request of a pack of vampires known as the Abyssia. The occult sect had intended to summon Dream's sister, Death, but a global catastrophe broke her of the compulsion and the spell's energies instead summoned the next in the Endless' line of succession, Death's younger brother Dream. Imprisoned by arcane wards meant to imprison his older sister, Dream was unable to escape but was not able to be compelled by the fools who, still mistaking him for Death, used necromantic spells on him, to no avail. When the occultists failed to show results, Roderick and his vampire pack drank deep of the occultists and left the silent, scowling Dream imprisoned in the basement of Fawny Rig mansion, but not before taking his three tokens of power: His Dreamstone, Helm of Nightmares, and Sand of Sleep. Though the Order sent more to reside in the manor, they did not disturb the Dream's prison. They recognized him for what he was and chose not to risk damaging the seal for fear of incurring his wrath. The only respite he had from his prison was a mental link he had with Edward and Wesley Dodds, the scions of a pact Dream had made with their ancestors, but without knowing the location of his prison, they were little help to Dream, other than giving him some insight into the events of the world around him. 2014-2015 While investigating the demon Nergal's connection to the Resurrection Crusade, John Constantine and Hawkgirl came to the manor of Fawny Rig, once the home of John's ancestor and Hawkgirl's former lover. When the two found what was in the basement, Hawkgirl recognized the Endless and John offered to break the seal that bound Dream to the circle if Dream agreed to help them locate John's missing niece. Dream agreed and used his restored power to provide the information immediately. Freed, Dream then went about restoring his kingdom, which had fallen into disrepair, in part due to the Kindly Ones. Once he had seen to those urgent matters, Dream went to Constantine for help in finding his stolen relic. Though he did get his relics back, after several years the inner circle of Abyssia found means to ward themselves from his wrath. They have been a constant thorn in his immortal side ever since and Dream often keeps his raven, Matthew, busy with searching for leads on Abyssia. Death of a Dream Dream considered what to do about the Kindly Ones as they murdered his loyal dreams and began wrecking the Dreaming. Nuala chose that moment to call in her boon, calling Dream away from the Dreaming to Faerie in hopes of saving him. She didn't know that the only way the Kindly Ones could destroy him was if he left the Dreaming. Dream and Nuala spoke, and when she asked him if he wanted to be punished for Orpheus's death he thought about it and realized how much he'd changed since he was released from Roderick Burgess prison. Dream returned to the Dreaming to find the Corinthian had saved Daniel. Once Lyta realized Daniel was all right she told the Kindly Ones not to hurt Dream, but once they were set in motion the Kindly Ones couldn't be stopped. Dream had words with Daniel, giving him the eagle dreamstone and letting him know that when Dream died Daniel would become the new Dream of the Endless. Matthew insisted on accompanying him to the borders of nightmare where Dream would make his stand against the Kindly Ones, but when they arrived Dream made Matthew leave. Death met Morpheus and correctly guessed that he'd let things go so far because he wanted to leave his role as Dream of the Endless, but couldn't abandon his post like Destruction did. The Kindly Ones arrived but Morpheus would not fight them, he allowed them to destroy him in order to save the Dreaming, and Death took Morpheus. Dream's role in the Endless was assumed by Daniel. Daniel Hall Daniel Hall was born in the Dreaming, where the Halls were being held prisoner by Brute and Glob, two nightmares who had escaped during Dream's earthly exile. Hector himself was already dead, and Lyta and Hector's ghost lived together in the dreams of a child; this was until Dream went looking for Brute and Glob, where he destroyed the barrier they created around the child's mind cutting him off from the real dreaming, and banishing them both to an excruciating fate. Once this happened the ghost of Hector faded away, probably into Death's realm, as he should have done when he first died. Dream proceeded to reveal that someday he would return to take Daniel, rightfully his because Daniel had spent the majority of his gestation in the Dreaming, and that there was nothing Lyta could do to prevent it. Lyta and her child were returned to the waking world, and Lyta tried to pick up the pieces in her life. Before Dream goes off to face Lucifer, he pays another visit to the two, and he names the child Daniel, a name to which Lyta takes a liking. As Daniel grows, he starts to enter the Dreaming while asleep, and is regaled with stories by Cain, Abel and Eve, while Matthew watches, and returns to Earth clutching one of Matthew's feathers. This doesn't sit well with Lyta, who feels that Dream has not only robbed her of her husband but now also her son. Her grief and torment are undefinable as she slips into insanity. Lyta, takes her grievances to the Furies, ultimately bringing about Dream's downfall, while sealing her son's place in the Dreaming for all eternity as he assumes the role of Dream. Daniel is different and yet similar to his predecessor. While he still speaks in the same way, and is still 'Dream of the Endless', he is inexperienced in certain matters and relies on Matthew the Raven for advice. Powers and Abilities Powers * Endless Physiology ' ** '''Enhanced Agility & Coordination ' ** 'Enhanced Awareness & Senses ' ** 'Enhanced Durability, Resilience, & Strength ' ** 'Immortality ' ** 'Metamorphosis ' ** 'Omnipotence (in the Dreaming) ' ** 'Sorcery ' ** 'Teleportation ' * 'Personified of Dream and Thought ' ** '''Grandmaster Psionic Ability Abilities * Insightful: Dream has a particular talent for introducing different ideas and new concepts into people's minds and lives (and also removes them). * Dream Making: Supreme talent to make creative dreams (and nightmares) * Storytelling: As the lord of all stories ever told Dream is a masterful storyteller. He was able to explain the complex origin of Barbatos and the Dark Multiverse to mortals in a way that allowed them to understand it. Weaknesses * Adherence to the Axiom: '''Despite his great powers, Dream, like the rest of the Endless, is bound to a complex set of rules and customs that limit his abilities. One which requires her not to spill the blood of family or he is no longer protected as the personification of Dream from other Personifications. Another is that he cannot fall in love with a mortal or the mortal's downfall is assured. Paraphernalia * '''Sand of Sleep: His sands can put others to sleep. It is capable of releasing dreams into the real world. * Dreamstone: He possessed a ruby that focused his powers. * Helm of Dreams: A helm made from the bones of a dead god that offered him protection. Trivia and Notes * Ambush Bug once applied to be Dream's assistant, asserting that he had no sense of humor and needed a wacky sidekick. * Even though Dream is the third oldest of the Endless, he appears to have some of the most influence over mortals, similarly to his elder sister Death. As quoted by Mervyn Pumpkinhead at the end of one of Dream's relationships: "He's gotta be the tragic figure standing out in the rain, mournin' the loss of his beloved. So down comes the rain, right on cue. In the meantime everybody gets dreams fulla existential angst and wakes up feeling like hell. And we all get wet." ** This implies that depending on Dreams mood, he is able to affect peoples dreams and implant his feelings in them, effectively manipulating mortals behavior when they are awake. * The Dreaming (or the "Od") is the most well documented of the Endless residences for all of us visit it often, for it is where we all go when we dream and the plane from which all psychic phenomena are drawn. Due to the necessity of it, the Dreaming is also the most diverse and expansive of the Endless Realms. Besides the dreamers who enter it every night, there are the many resident arcana: thousands upon thousands of creatures from Cain and Abel (Keepers of Mysteries and Secrets respectively), Lucien the Librarian, Mervyn Pumpkinhead the Janitor, and a slew of dreams and nightmares including the Corinthian (nightmare), Fiddler's Green (dreamscape), and Dream's spies and scouts in the form of ravens. Of course, The Dreaming itself seems to be alive and is always changing, it's quite malleable especially to the caress of Dream's power. ** His housekeeper is called Nuala and he has a pet call Gatekeeper. Tenants of the Dreaming are Eve, Cain, Abel, Erzulie, Fashion Thing and Rover. * Dream's sigil is the Dream Helm which he usually only wears when heading into battle or at a time when he wants to be seen as a fearsome god, however, Dream actually possesses multiple objects of power. Three to be exact. One of them is a sand pouch, that tool often associated with the mythical Sandman, the sands which he sprinkles over the eyes to induce sleep and dreams. And his most powerful tool is the Dreamstone, a gem of immense power. * Whereas the other Endless could not really be bothered by mortals or at least befriending them, Dream has sought multiple mortal lovers and gained several mortal friends as well. Wesley Dodds is one such example, receiving powerful mental gifts from Dream on a nightly basis. All natural psychics could be said as being touched by Morpheus, especially those gifted with the ability of Lucid Dreaming, which gives them great power inside the Dreaming (though only a mere fraction of Dream's own). ** Among his lovers were Killala of the Glow, Nada, Calliope, Titania, Alianora and Thessaly. * Each of the Endless also has a personal fifth restriction defined in the Axiom. Dream can never take the life of a mortal except in the instance of a dream vortex. * He is in possession of one of the few known Dreamstones, the one tied to our reality, a ruby known as the Materioptikon. He wears it on the lapel of his coat. Category:Characters Category:Endless Category:Black Hair